JP2022056493A - Protective member, replacement member with protective member, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a protective cover that allows the start of insertion of a replacement member such as an image forming unit 70 with the protective cover attached thereto and removal of the protective cover in the middle of the insertion.SOLUTION: A protective cover 80 is a protective cover that is attached, before insertion into an apparatus main body, to a replacement member such as an image forming unit 70 for example, the replacement member being inserted into the apparatus main body to act as part of the apparatus, and protects the replacement member. The insertion of the replacement member is started with the protective cover 80 attached thereto. The protective cover 80 is provided with contact parts 82. The contact parts 82 are brought into contact with the apparatus main body when an uncovered part 70 on the front side of the replacement member is inserted into the apparatus main body. Subsequently, the protective cover 80 is removed and the replacement member is further inserted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a protective member, a replacement part with a protective member, and an image forming apparatus.

The electrophotographic image forming apparatus is provided with an image holder that temporarily holds a toner image. Then, in order to make the image holder replaceable, parts including the image holder are set as a cartridge or a unit configuration, and are replaced when the life is reached.

In order to prevent the image holder before replacement from being scratched, a cartridge or unit provided with a protective member such as a protective cover is configured, and the protective member is removed before or during replacement, and the cartridge or unit is used. Is inserted into the main body of the device.

For example, in Patent Document 1, the protective cover is removed when the front end portion of the image forming unit with the protective cover is inserted into the apparatus main body together with the portion of the protective cover that covers the front end portion of the image forming unit. It has been proposed to further insert the image forming unit from which it has been removed.

Further, Patent Document 2 proposes to insert the process cartridge into the main body of the apparatus while leaving the protective cover outside the main body of the apparatus.

Further, Patent Document 3 proposes a configuration in which the protective member left outside the device main body is removed according to the cartridge insertion operation into the device main body, as in Patent Document 2.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-267808 Japanese Patent No. 3507227 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 08-292706

The problem when inserting into the main body of the device when a protective member for preventing the replacement part from being scratched is not limited to the image holder, and is not limited to the image forming device. This is a common problem with equipment that operates with embedded replacement parts.

The present invention operates with a protective member that can be removed in the middle of starting insertion of a replacement part with the protective member attached, a replacement part with the protective member, and the replacement part inserted. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus.

Claim 1 is
A protective member that is inserted into the main body of a device and is attached to a replacement part that acts as a part of the device before being inserted to protect the replacement part.
It has a contact portion that comes into contact with the device body when a part of the replacement part on the front side in the insertion direction is inserted into the device body while being mounted on the replacement part.
It is a protective member characterized in that a part thereof is removed at the stage of being inserted into the main body of the apparatus to allow further insertion of the replacement part.

2. The protective member according to claim 1, wherein the part of the replacement part is left exposed.

3. The protective member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a handle for receiving a removal operation is provided on the rear side in the insertion direction.

Claim 4 is
The replacement part has a plurality of unit parts arranged in the width direction extending in the insertion direction and intersecting the insertion direction.
A protrusion that allows the protective member to enter between a plurality of windows arranged in the insertion direction and the adjacent unit component provided on the surface of the window frame portion that separates the adjacent windows so as to face the replacement component side. The protective member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the protective member has a portion.

Claim 5 is
A replacement component that is inserted into the main body of the device and acts as a part of the device to operate the device as an image forming device that forms a toner image and transfers and fixes the toner image on paper.
It is a replacement part with a protection member, which is provided with the protection member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is attached to the replacement part.

6. The replacement part with a protective member according to claim 5.

Claim 7 is
The replacement parts are parts in which a plurality of the replacement parts are arranged in the width direction at which the image holders intersect in the insertion direction.
The replacement part with a protective member according to claim 6, wherein the protective member is a component that extends over a plurality of arranged image holders.

Claim 8 is
With the main body of the device
It is provided with a replacement component that is inserted into the main body of the device and acts as a part of the device to operate the device as an image forming device that forms a toner image and transfers and fixes the toner image on paper.
The main body of the device
It has a fall-out prevention structure that prevents the replacement part from coming off from the main body of the device when its own weight acts in a state where a part of the front side in the insertion direction of the replacement part is inserted when the replacement part is inserted. It is an image forming apparatus characterized by this.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the protective member according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is further provided, which is attached to the replacement part before being inserted into the main body of the apparatus. 9. The image forming apparatus according to 9.

According to the protective member of claim 1, the replacement part with the protective member of claim 5, and the image forming apparatus of claim 9, even if the device main body does not have a margin for inserting the protective member, the protective member is still attached. The replacement part can be started to be inserted and removed in the middle.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is simpler than the protective member of the method in which the second protective member is provided to cover the exposed portion on the front side of the replacement portion and the second protective member is slid backward in the insertion direction. A structural protection member is realized.

According to the protective member of claim 3, it is easier to remove than the protective member without a handle.

According to the protective member of claim 4, the protective member is lighter and has less material than the protective member having no window, and the replacement part before mounting is prevented from rattling, for example, during transportation. ..

According to the replacement part with a protective member according to claim 6, the image holder before being inserted into the main body of the apparatus is protected.

According to the replacement part with a protective member according to claim 7, a plurality of image holders are protected by one protective member. Further, as compared with a structure in which a protective member is attached to each image holder and inserted into the main body of the device for each image holder, it contributes to miniaturization of the image forming apparatus.

According to the image forming apparatus of claim 8, damage to the replacement part due to falling out is prevented.

It is a figure which showed the outline of the image forming apparatus as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which showed the image forming unit before being attached to the apparatus main body. It is a perspective view which showed the protective cover in the direction which the upper surface appears. It is a perspective view which showed the protective cover in the direction in which the lower surface appears. It is a perspective view which showed the initial state of insertion into the apparatus main body of an image formation unit. It is an enlarged view of the part of a circle R in FIG. It is sectional drawing which showed the main part of the apparatus main body and the image formation unit at the initial stage of insertion. It is a perspective view which showed the state which the insertion into the apparatus main body of an image formation unit advanced from the state of FIG. It is a perspective view which showed the fall-out prevention structure provided in the apparatus main body. It is sectional drawing which showed the main part of the apparatus main body and the image formation unit in the state which the dropout was prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Here, as an example, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with four image forming engines 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20K in the apparatus housing 11. Here, Y, M, C, K of the codes 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20K represent the color of the toner, and in each image forming engine 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20K, each color Y, M, C , A toner image is formed by the toner of K. In the following, for the explanation common to each image forming engine 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20K in which it is not necessary to distinguish the toner color, the reference numerals of Y, M, C, K for distinguishing the toner color are omitted, and the image It is expressed as a formation engine 20. The same applies to other components.

Each image forming engine 20 includes an image holder 21, and further has a configuration in which a charger 22, an exposure device 23, a developer 24, and a cleaner 25 are provided around the image holder 21. While rotating, the image holder 21 is affected by the charger 22, the exposure device 23, the developer 24, and the cleaner 25. That is, the charger 22 charges the image holder 21. The exposure device 23 irradiates the image holder 21 with exposure light to form an electrostatic latent image. The developer 24 develops the electrostatic latent image with toner. Then, the toner image formed by the development is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 described later. The toner remaining on the image holder 21 after transfer is removed by the cleaner 25.

Further, an intermediate transfer belt 30 is provided immediately above the image forming engine 20 in the apparatus housing 11. The intermediate transfer belt 30 is wound around a plurality of rolls 31 to 33 and circulates in the direction of arrow A along a path along each image holder 21. Each primary transfer device 34 is arranged at a position inside the intermediate transfer belt 30 facing each image holder 21 with the intermediate transfer belt 30 interposed therebetween. The toner image formed on each image holder 21 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 so as to be sequentially overlapped according to the circulation movement of the intermediate transfer belt 30 by the action of each primary transfer device 34. The toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 30 is further conveyed to reach the secondary transfer position T2.

Further, a paper tray 40 is provided in the lower part of the apparatus housing 11. Paper P before image formation is laminated on the paper tray 40. In image formation, one sheet of paper P is taken out from the paper tray 40 by the pickup roll 41, and is conveyed by the transfer roll 42 in the direction of arrow B until the tip of the sheet P reaches the timing adjustment roll 43. .. Then, the timing adjusting roll 43 feeds the paper P in the direction of the arrow C so that the paper P reaches the same secondary transfer position T2 at the timing when the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 30 reaches the secondary transfer position T2. Is done. Then, at the secondary transfer position T2, the toner image is transferred onto the paper P by the action of the secondary transfer device 49.

The paper P to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed in the direction of the arrow D and reaches the fuser 50. Then, it is heated and pressurized by the fixing device 50, and the toner image on the paper P is fixed on the paper P.

The paper P on which the image consisting of the toner image fixed by the fuser 50 is formed is sent out by the delivery roll 44 onto the paper ejection tray 60 (see FIG. 5) provided on the upper surface of the apparatus housing 11. ..

Here, the four image forming engines 20 are configured as one image forming unit as a whole, and are integrally attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. Hereinafter, this image forming unit will be described.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an image forming unit before being mounted on the main body of the apparatus.

The image forming unit 70 is inserted into the main body of the device in the direction of the arrow Z and acts as a part of the device. In the image forming unit 70, four image forming engines 20 are arranged on the unit housing 71 so as to be arranged in the width direction intersecting the insertion direction. Further, the image forming unit 70 includes a protective cover 80.

Here, the image forming unit 70 excluding the protective cover 80 corresponds to an example of a replacement part according to the present invention. The four image forming engines 20 constituting the image forming unit 70 correspond to an example of the unit component referred to in the present invention.

Further, the protective cover 80 is attached to the image forming unit 70, which is an example of a replacement part, before being inserted to protect the image forming unit 70. The protective cover 80 is mainly intended to protect the image holder 21 which is vulnerable to mechanical stimuli, and extends over the four image forming engines 20 constituting the image forming unit 70. The protective cover 80 corresponds to an example of the protective member of the present invention. The image forming unit 70 to which the protective cover 80 is attached corresponds to an example of a replacement part with a protective member of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the protective cover in the direction in which the upper surface thereof appears.

Further, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the protective cover in the direction in which the lower surface thereof appears.

In the following, the protective cover 80 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 together with FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the protective cover 80 is provided with two mounting portions 81 on each of the left and right sides in the width direction intersecting the insertion direction. However, FIG. 4 shows the mounting portion 81 on one of the left and right sides. The protective cover 80 is mounted on the image forming unit 70 by locking these mounting portions 81 to the unit housing 71.

As shown in FIG. 2, the protective cover 80 leaves an exposed portion 70A of the image forming unit 70 on the front side in the insertion direction indicated by the arrow Z. The protective cover 80 has a contact portion 82 at its front end. The image forming unit 70 is started to be inserted into the main body of the apparatus with the protective cover 80 attached. The contact portion 82 comes into contact with the device main body when the exposed portion 70A on the front side in the insertion direction of the image forming unit 70 is inserted into the device main body, and the image forming unit 70 is inserted further as it is. Is in a state where it cannot be done. The protective cover 80 is provided with a handle 83 that receives a removal operation to facilitate the removal of the protective cover 80 behind the insertion direction. Therefore, after inserting the image forming unit 70 until the contact portion 82 comes into contact with the main body of the device, the protective cover 80 is removed by holding the handle 83 in the hand. Then, the image forming unit 70 is in a state where it can be further inserted into the apparatus main body 10A, and the image forming unit 70 is inserted to a predetermined position in the apparatus main body 10A with the protective cover 80 removed. Get caught. The state of inserting the image forming unit 70 into the apparatus main body 10A will be described later.

The protective cover 80 covers the upper part of the image holder 21 which is vulnerable to mechanical impact, and has a window 84 opened in the middle between adjacent image forming engines 20. The protective cover 80 is a lightweight and material-saving protective cover provided with the window 84.

Further, a plurality of the windows 84 are arranged in the insertion direction. A rib 86 having the shape shown in FIG. 4 is formed on the surface of the window frame portion 85 that separates the windows 84 adjacent to each other in the insertion direction toward the image forming unit 70. These ribs 86 are reinforced by beams 87 extending in the insertion direction. These ribs 86 enter between adjacent image forming engines 20 and suppress rattling of replacement parts before mounting, for example, during transportation. These ribs 86 correspond to an example of the protruding portion referred to in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an initial state of the image forming unit being inserted into the main body of the apparatus.

The panel (not shown) that forms the appearance next to the device main body 10A has a structure that opens and closes with its lower end as a hinge. When the panel is opened, an insertion port 12 provided in the frame 13 which is a part of the device housing 11 is opened there. The image forming unit 70 is inserted into the apparatus main body 10A from the insertion port 12 with the exposed portion 70A side not covered by the protective cover 80 as the tip and the protective cover 80 covered.

A toner cartridge mounting member 18 fixed to a frame 13 constituting a part of the apparatus housing 11 is provided above the insertion port 12. The toner cartridge mounting member 18 includes a plurality of partition plates 17. A toner cartridge (not shown) is mounted in the space of the toner cartridge mounting member 18 sandwiched between the partition plates 17. The toner contained in the mounted toner cartridge is used to form a toner image by the developer 24 (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the portion of the circle R in FIG. In FIG. 1, circles R are shown in two places, but both have the same shape.

The image forming unit 70 is provided with a guide rail 72 extending in the insertion direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIGS. 1 and 6) at a position in the circle R shown in FIG. The image forming unit 70 is inserted into the device main body 10A while the two guide rails 72 are guided by the device main body 10A.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the main body of the apparatus and an image forming unit at the initial stage of insertion.

The image forming unit 70 is planned to be inserted horizontally into the apparatus main body 10A in the direction of the arrow Z, but at the initial stage of the insertion, as shown in FIG. 7, the image forming unit 70 is inserted. The rear side may be lifted in the direction of arrow U. In this case, the contact portion 82 of the protective cover 80 first contacts the partition plate 17 (see FIG. 5) to prevent the image forming unit 70 from contacting the frame 13. That is, even if the contact portion 82 of the protective cover 80 comes into contact with the partition plate 17, the portion 70A of the image forming unit 70 where the image holder 21 and the like are exposed is separated from the frame 13 forming the insertion port 12. It is in the same position. In this way, when the image forming unit 70 is inserted, the exposed portion 70A is prevented from being damaged.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the image forming unit is inserted into the main body of the device more advanced than the state of FIG.

In FIG. 8, the contact portion 82 of the protective cover 80 abuts on the frame 13. With the image forming unit 70 inserted so far, the protective cover 80 is removed from the image forming unit 70.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a falling-out prevention structure provided in the main body of the apparatus.

In FIG. 9, the support portion 14, the retaining portion 15, and the guide portion 16 are shown in order from the front side in the direction indicated by the arrow Z into which the image forming unit 70 is inserted, which is provided in the apparatus housing 11. Has been done. The support portion 14, the retaining portion 15, and the guide portion 16 are provided in pairs on the left and right sides corresponding to the two guide rails 72 on the left and right shown by the two circles R in FIG.

After the contact portion 82 shown in FIG. 8 hits the apparatus main body 10A, the protective cover 80 is removed, but at that time, there is a possibility that the image forming unit 70 may be released. In the state shown in FIG. 8, only the exposed portion 70A on the front side of the image forming unit 70 is inserted, and the center of gravity of the image forming unit 70 is still outside the apparatus main body 10A. Therefore, when the hand is released, the weight of the image forming unit 70 acts on the image forming unit 70, and the image forming unit 70 may fall off from the apparatus main body 10A and fall. In the case of the present embodiment, the support portion 14 and the retaining portion 15 prevent the falling off.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the main body of the apparatus and an image forming unit in a state where falling off is prevented.

The guide rail 72 of the image forming unit 70 rides on the support portion 14, and the front end of the guide rail 72 is hooked on the hook portion 15a protruding downward of the retaining portion 15. This prevents the image forming unit 70 from coming off.

In FIG. 10, the protective cover 80 when the protective cover 80 is inserted straight in the direction of the arrow Z to the same position as the retaining stopper is shown by a broken line. When the image forming unit 70 is in this position, the contact portion 82 of the protective cover 80 is in a position with a slight space S between the image forming unit 70 and the frame 13.

The protective cover 80 is removed from the image forming unit 70 after the contact portion 82 abuts on the apparatus main body 10A. The handle 83 of the protective cover 80 is arranged on the rear side. When removing the protective cover 80, the contact portion 82 abuts on the device main body 10A, and then the hand is temporarily released. Then, the image forming unit 70 has the posture shown by the solid line in FIG. After that, the handle 83 of the protective cover 80 arranged on the rear side is lifted by hand. Since there is a space S between the position where the contact portion 82 of the protective cover 80 abuts on the device main body 10A and the position where the image forming unit 70 is prevented from coming off, the image forming unit 70 is dropped even if the hand is once released. It can be safely removed without any problems. In the case of the present embodiment, since the handle 83 is on the rear side, the protective cover 80 can be removed if there is a small space S. If the handle 83 is arranged sideways, a larger space is required, which may hinder miniaturization.

After the protective cover 80 is removed, the image forming unit 70 is inserted while the guide rail 72 of the image forming unit 70 is guided by the guide portion 16 (see FIG. 9) of the apparatus housing 11.

When the used image forming unit 70 is taken out, the guide rail 72 is taken out while being guided by the guide portion 16. At this time, if the center of gravity is pulled out until it comes out of the device housing 11, the image forming unit 70 may fall. The support portion 14 and the retaining portion 15 also contribute to the prevention of inadvertent fall at this time.

Here, as the protective cover 80, a protective cover in which a part of the front side of the image forming unit 70 is left exposed has been described, but it is not always necessary that the protective cover is a partially exposed protective cover. For example, it is provided with a second protective cover that slides so as to overlap the protective cover that covers the exposed portion 70A of the image forming unit 70 and covers the portion other than the exposed portion 70A, and the second protective cover is thrust into the frame 13. By hitting and sliding the image forming unit 70, the portion of the image forming unit 70 that was covered with the second protective cover before the insertion may be inserted without the cover.

Further, here, the image forming unit 70 in which a plurality of image forming engines 20 constituting the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 are arranged and the protective cover 80 for protecting the image forming unit 70 have been described as an example. Does not apply only to this.

For example, the module including the intermediate transfer belt 30 may be used as an example of the replacement component according to the present invention.

Further, the replacement part referred to in the present invention is not a replacement part of the image forming apparatus 10, but may be a replacement part of an apparatus for another purpose. That is, the replacement part referred to in the present invention may be any replacement part that is inserted into the main body of the device and acts as a part of the device.

10 Image forming device 10A Device main body 11 Device housing 12 Insertion port 13 Frame 14 Support part 15 Retaining part 15a Hook part 16 Guide part 17 Partition plate 18 Toner cartridge mounting member 20, 20Y, 20M, 20C, 20K Image forming engine 21 Image holder 22 Charger 23 Exposed device 24 Developer 25 Cleaner 30 Intermediate transfer belt 31, 32, 33 Roll 34 Primary transfer device 40 Paper tray 41 Pick-up roll 42 Transport roll 43 Timing adjustment roll 44 Sending roll 49 Secondary Transfer device 50 Fuser 60 Paper ejection tray 70 Image forming unit 70A Exposed part 71 Unit housing 72 Guide rail 80 Protective cover 81 Mounting part 82 Contact part 83 Handle 84 Window 85 Window frame part 86 Rib 87 Beam

Claims (9)

A protective member that is inserted into the main body of a device and is attached to a replacement part that acts as a part of the device before being inserted to protect the replacement part.
It has a contact portion that comes into contact with the device body when a part of the replacement part on the front side in the insertion direction is inserted into the device body while being mounted on the replacement part.
A protective member characterized in that a part thereof is removed at the stage of being inserted into the main body of the apparatus to allow further insertion of the replacement part. The protective member according to claim 1, wherein the part of the replacement part is not covered and is left exposed. The protective member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a handle for receiving a removal operation is provided on the rear side in the insertion direction. The replacement part has a plurality of unit parts arranged in the width direction extending in the insertion direction and intersecting the insertion direction.
The protective member enters between a plurality of windows arranged in the insertion direction and the adjacent unit parts provided on the surface of the window frame portion that separates the adjacent windows and faces the replacement part side. The protective member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the protective member has a protrusion. A replacement component that is inserted into the main body of the device and acts as a part of the device to operate the device as an image forming device that forms a toner image and transfers and fixes the toner image on paper.
A replacement part with a protective member, which is provided with the protective member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is attached to the replacement part. 5. The part according to claim 5 is characterized in that the replacement part is a part provided with an image holder that temporarily holds the toner image until the toner image is formed and the toner image is transferred to the transferred body. Replacement parts with the described protective member. The replacement parts are parts in which a plurality of the replacement parts are arranged in the width direction at which the image holders intersect in the insertion direction.
The replacement part with a protective member according to claim 6, wherein the protective member is a component that spreads over a plurality of arranged image holders. With the main body of the device
It is provided with a replacement component that is inserted into the main body of the device and acts as a part of the device to operate the device as an image forming device that forms a toner image and transfers and fixes the toner image on paper.
The main body of the device
It has a fall-out prevention structure that prevents the replacement part from coming off from the main body of the device when its own weight acts in a state where a part of the front side in the insertion direction of the replacement part is inserted when the replacement part is inserted. An image forming apparatus characterized in that. The image according to claim 8, further comprising the protective member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is attached to the replacement part before being inserted into the apparatus main body. Forming device.

Images